The Origin of Shadow Nature
“Hearing is for the ear
Heading is for the mind
Cast Ifa for OsaIrosun
On the day he was coming from heaven to earth
He was told to sacrifice
He was told to heed advice
Ifa says that, in the same way that you overlook details, you are also in denial of your shadow nature. You would prefer to pretend to be good than acknowledge your dark side. Ifa says you need to be honest with yourself and integrate your shadow.”
Sacred Odu Osa Irosun
Our Mission
The mission of Shadow Nature is to improve the mental health and wellness of Highly Sensitive People (HSP), especially during the life transitions of adolescence, parenthood and eldercare, by providing tools rooted in African Traditional Religion that support the cultivation of self-worth and stress management.
Shadow Nature is an extension of my journey of healing. It is my effort to capture an experience while creating space to facilitate transformation for the people I am destined to serve.
About Me
I am a wife, a mother, an African in the diaspora, and a social-psychologist with degrees from Cornell and Harvard.
I am Onisese (traditionalist).
Specifically, my training in the Ifa tradition stems from Osogbo and Abeokuta lineages in Nigeria. As determined through Ifa divinations, my family Orisa are Ifa and Osun. I have a deep respect for the tradition and want to be clear that what is offered by Shadow Nature is innovation.
As an African in the diaspora, my roots are varied and Ifa is the system my Ori guided me to learn and reconnect with my ancestral practices; I respect the diversity of lineages that run in my blood. Shadow Nature has its roots in Ifa and the Forces of Nature (Irunmole).
As part of the healing process, for myself and for the generations before and after me, I am called to document my journey of transformation. For over three years, I experienced the healing of divination and sacrifice every 16 days; peeling back the layers of my destiny. Within this process, I received my Hand of Ifa as well as other icons such as my Egbe and Olokun shrines. As I grew in alignment with my Ori (my destiny), I was compelled to develop tools to overcome negative thinking and combat diseases; and, most importantly, to share these tools with my family and community. With the support of my Ori, Ifa, and Egbe Orun-–Shadow Nature was born.
Just like the verses of Ifa, which are poetry with many layers of interpretation, Shadow Nature has multiple meanings. As the verse of the Odu Osa Irosun reminds us, we must acknowledge and integrate our shadow (the dark sides of our personality). It's a reminder of balance and wholeness. It's my belief that we find the answers to our human nature within our connection to all the elements of nature (animals, plants, water, air, etc) and the forces of nature (the Irunmole).
While Carl Jung describes the the shadow "as a concept comprises everything the conscious personality experiences as negative;"* the Yoruba have a very robust view of the shadow, called Ojiji. Ojiji is the pair to our Ori and follows us throughout life tracking all of our deeds.
*"Shadow (Analytical Psychology) In International dictionary psychoanalysis" by Hans Dieckmann et al.
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